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Five Pac-12 women's basketball players earn Canadian National Team tryouts

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Five current Pac-12 women's basketball players have been invited to attend the Canadian Senior Women's National Team tryout, Canada Basketball announced on Wednesday. UCLA's Nirra Fields, Utah's Michelle Plouffe and Taryn Wicijowski, and Oregon State's Ruth Hamblin and Jamie Weisner are among the 29 invited athletes who will join the Senior Women's National Team staff and Canada Basketball personnel at McMaster University's David Braley Athletic Centre for the May 17-19 tryout.

Fields averaged 7.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while coming off the bench for a UCLA squad that spent all but one week of the season ranked in the top 25 and reached the Pac-12 Tournament championship. She ranked fourth on the team in steals (41) and blocks (14) and was the Bruins' most consistent three-point shooter (21-of-58, .362). Fields was a Pac-12 All-Freshman honorable mention performer last season.

Plouffe and Wicijowski formed one of the best frontcourt tandems in the league last season. Both players ranked in the top eight in the league in scoring and in the top 10 in rebounding. Wicijowski, an honorable mention All-Pac-12 performer, averaged 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds and finished the season ranked 21st in the country in field goal percentage (52.3). Plouffe, who averaged 17.2 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, was named honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press. Plouffe also led the Utes in three-point field goals (58), blocks (41) and steals (72). The duo led the Utes to the WNIT final.

Hamblin and Weisner anchored a young Oregon State squad that led the Pac-12 and ranked 11th in the country with 5.5 blocks per game. Weisner, a Conference All-Freshman selection, led the Beavers in in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg) and was twice named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Hamblin averaged 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game while ranking second on the team with 32 blocked shots on the year.